Mining conveyer



Nov. 10, 1936. w, A. LOGAN MINING CONVEYER Filed April 1, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 23; ZN zwvm 0" T {W Nov. 10, 1936. w. A. LOGAN MINING CONVEYER Filed April 1, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 1, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 OOOO Patented Nov. 10, 1936 PATENT OFFICE MINING CONVEYER William Archibald Logan, Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland Application April 1, 1935, Serial No. 14,004 In Great Britain April 3, 1934 1 Claim.

or movable with the mining machine, the arrangement being such that, as the mining machine advances, the upper flight of the belt is progressively lengthened, at the expense of the lower flight, for the reception of mined material,

discharge of the material being effected by winding the belt on to the winch connected to the upper flight.

Conveniently, the discharge end of the conveyer belt is connected to one winch by means of "2 a rope having a length at least equal to the length of the mine face to be Worked, and the tail end of the belt is connected to the other'winch by means of a rope having a length about double the length of the first rope.

Each Winch may comprise a single winch drum, or, in order to economize in head-room, may comprise a pair of winch drums interconnected by gearing for conjoint rotation.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figs. 1 and 1 together constitute a diagrammatic side elevation, and

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view, of a preferred construction of mining conveyer in which each winch includes two winch drums. Fig. 3 is a side a elevation of the winch-driving gear shown in plan in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan view of one winch drum. Figs. 5 and 6 are, respectively, a side elevation, and a transverse section of supporting troughing for the conveyer belt. Fig. '7 is a plan view of the conveyer belt roller which travels with the mining machine. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary diagrammatic elevation of a modified construction of conveyer in which each winch includes one drum only.

Referring to Figs. 1, I of the drawings, the mining conveyer shown includes an adjacent pair of winches indicated generally at l and 2, respectively, interposed between a pair of side frames i0.

The winch l constitutes the main or discharge winch, and the winch 2 constitutes an auxiliary or tail winch.

The winch I includes a spaced pair of flanged drums I a and l and the winch 2 likewise includes a spaced pair of flanged drums i. and 2 The drums constituting each pair are operatively interconnected for conjoint rotation by means of a twin strand chain 3 wrapping sprockets 4 on the bosses of the drums and carrying spaced transverse slats 5 which extend between the chain 5 strands, the slats and chains thus constituting, in eiTect, a link type web looped around the bosses of the associated pair of drums.

6 denotes the conveyer belt which, when the mining machine commences to operate from a 10 point close to the winches, is coiled on the drums 2 2 of the winch 2 (as shown in Figs. 1 and 1 the discharge end of the belt being led from the winch 2 forwardly under, and rearwardly over, a roller 7 attached to or moving with a mining 5 machine. A wire rope 8 trained over guide pulleys 9 journalled between the side frames Hl connects the discharge end of the belt 6 with the link Web of the winch l. The tail end of the belt 6 is connected tothe link web of the Winch 20 2 by a wire rope H which, when the belt 6 is coiled upon the drums 2 2 is wrapped around said link web.

The boss of each winch drum includes two outer cylindrical portions l2 (Fig. 4), adapted to receive the conveyer belt 6, and an intermediate cylindrical portion l3, of less diameter than the outer portions H, for the reception of the associated link web constituted by the associated chain strands 3 and the slots 5.

The shafts l4, H: of the adjacent drums l 2 respectively, of the winches, are connectible through friction clutches and change-speed gearing indicated conventionally at l6 (Figs. 2 and 3) with a winch-driving motor l1.

The roller 1 may be attached directly to the a mining machine, or may be attached to the rear of a loader-conveyer forming part of the mining machine, so that the mined material may be delivered on to the upper flight of the conveyer belt 40 6. As will be understood, in the case where the roller 1 is fitted directly to an ordinary mining machine, the roller 1 will follow behind the cutter jib of the machine, and means will be provided for lifting the mined material on to the upper 45 flight of the belt 6.

The belt 6 is supported in a series of trough sections S (Figs. 5 and 6) erected in progression as the mining machine advances. The trough sections are equipped with upper rollers l8 and 0 with lower rollers [9 which support the upper and the lower flights respectively, of the conveyer belt.

The conveyer belt 6 may be about seventy yards long. The rope 8 is of larger section than the rope I l, and is a few yards longer than the length 55 of the mine face to be worked. The length of the rope I i is about double the length of the mine face to be worked, plus a few yards.

In operation, in the forward travel of the mining machine, the upper flight of the belt 6 progressively extends, at the expense of the lower flight, to receive the mined material, the winch drums 2 2 rotating idly as the belt is pulled therefrom, and the winch drums I l being held against rotation. However, if the rate of extension of the upper flight of the belt 6 is insufficient to cope with the quantity of material being cut, the winch I may be operated to pull the upper flight of the belt 6 rearwardly at an appropriate speed, it being understood that, when the belt 6 winds on to the winch I, material will be discharged from the belt over the discharge end D of the winch I, into hutches H or the like. When the belt is loaded up to its tail end, the forward feed of the mining machine is arrested, and the winch I is operated to Wind the belt on to the drums I I and thus to discharge the mined material from the belt over the discharge end D into the hutches H. In the conveyer-discharging operation the winch drums 2 2 rotate idly, and the belt is transferred on to the winch drums I I At the end of the conveyer-discharging operation the winch 2 is operated to unwind the conveyer belt from the drums I I of the winch I and to restore the belt to starting position in relation to the roller 1. If the mining machine is operating within seventy yards from the winches I, 2, the belt 6 will be partially re-wound on to the drums 2 2 in restoring the belt 6 to starting position. As will be understood, while the belt 5 is being restored to starting position, the drums I I are allowed to rotate idly. It will be seen that the position of the belt 6 in relation to the winches I, 2 at any moment is determined by the distance from the winches to the mining machine and by the position of the belt itself in relation to the roller I.

The rope I I serves simply to permit re-winding of the belt 6 to starting position, whereas the rope 8 has to pull the loaded belt.

A cycle of operations of the conveyer thus consists in loading the belt 6, discharging the material from the belt by winding it on the drums of the winch I, and in re-winding the belt to starting position.

The object of providing each winch with the pair of drums is to economize in head-room and thus to permit the conveyer to operate in thin seams. For the same reason, the maximum length of the belt 6 will, in practice, be about seventy yards.

In practice, very little extra load will be imposed on the feed-gear of the mining machine, it being understood that the actual work of displacing the loaded flight of the belt 6 is performed by the winch I.

The gearing I6 is preferably arranged to provide one speed for the shaft I5 for the purpose of re-winding the belt 6 to starting position, and two speeds for the shaft I4. The transmission train between the motor I! and the winches includes an automatic overload clutch 2|, intermeshing gear wheels 22, 23, worm and wormwheel gearing 24, 25, a pinion 26 meshing with a gear wheel 27 on a shaft 28 on which are splined and slidable two integral pinions 29, 3D. In one operative position of the pinions 29, 30 the drive is transmitted to the shaft I4 from the pinion 29 and through gears 3I33 to a shaft 34 connected to the shaft I4 by chain-and-sprocket gearing 35 and a manually operable friction clutch 36. In the other operative position of the pinions 29, 30 the drive is transmitted to the shaft I4 from the pinion 39 and through gears 3'I38 to the chainand-sprocket gearing 35. The drive to the shaft I5 is taken from the shaft 28 through a manually operable friction clutch 39, the shaft 28 being aligned with the shaft I5.

The winch side frames ID are rigidly interconnected by transverse plates 20 which serve also as supporting surfaces for the slats 5 of the link webs.

According to the modification shown diagrammatically in Fig. 8, each winch includes one drum, I or 2, only.

The winch structure may be set up directly on the mine floor, or, alternatively, it may be mounted on a wheeled carriage which may run on the rail track in the discharge road of the mine. In the latter case, the winch structure will be trunnioned for movement about a vertical axis on the carriage, so that it can be turned about said axis into operative position, at right angles to the carriage and mine track, as required.

I claim:

For use with a travelling mining machine provided with a guide member travelling with said machine, a mining conveyer including a discharge winch, an auxiliary winch located between said discharge winch and said guide member, a conveyer belt trained forwardly under, and rearwardly over, said guide member, a rope connecting the upper flight of said belt to said discharge winch, a longer rope connecting the lower flight of said belt to said auxiliary winch, and variable speed gearing including a clutch connecting said winches, whereby the belt may be unwound from either one of said winches on to the other one of said winches and the distance between said auxiliary winch and said guide member may be varied.

W. A. LOGAN. 

